The Oxford Trust, the charity dedicated to encouraging the pursuit of science through innovation and STEM education, has officially topped out its new Aspen Building at the Wood Centre for Innovation in Headington, Oxford, to mark reaching the structure’s highest point ahead of building completion in July 2026.
The 17,000 sq ft (1,600 sq m) Aspen Building is a £7 million expansion, delivered with construction partner Beard Construction, which will add two floors of high-quality Class II laboratories and technical workspace, supplementing the capacity of the adjacent fully occupied Linden Building.
The new facility underscores the Trust’s commitment to the Headington Science Cluster and Oxford’s innovation ecosystem. Within the new building there also will be dedicated facilities to support STEM outreach to schools and communities through Science Oxford.
The topping out event brought together senior leadership and project partners who also attended the original groundbreaking ceremony, which included Jonathan Flint CBE, trustee, Steve Burgess, CEO, Nicki Campling, director of innovation and operations, and Michelle Webb, associate director of operations, for The Oxford Trust as well as Mark Beard, chairman, and Sam Payne, site manager, of Beard Construction. Lily Elsner, CEO and co-founder of Jack Fertility, represented the community of science and tech companies already working at the Wood Centre for Innovation.
Steve Burgess, CEO of The Oxford Trust
This project has already created local jobs and skills with circa 35 construction jobs on-site and this will increase when science and tech start-up and grow-on companies move into the new building.
Once completed, the Aspen Building will provide scalable, customisable laboratory and office space with state-of-the-art environmental design features which will target BREEAM Excellent and at least 10% Biodiversity Net Gain within its 15 acres of surrounding woodland.
Mark Beard, Company Chairman
The Aspen Building is located adjacent to the existing Linden Building and Science Oxford Centre, both integral parts of the Wood Centre for Innovation. The Centre is already home to eight pioneering science and tech companies which include Lumai, Helio Display Materials, PicturaBio, Jack Fertility, Bioarchitech, DJS Antibodies, Exogene and Newrotex.
The Aspen Building is now available to pre-let to provide flexibility in design for incoming companies.
The Trust’s Wood Centre for Innovation is managed by Oxford Innovation, a spin-out from The Oxford Trust and the UK’s leading operator of innovation centres.
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